My Grandfather said his daddy would never talk about his experiences during the War. That he only spoke of three incidents that spoke of the hardships he experience in an offhand manner, but not the battles he was involved in.

Having experienced PTSD myself. And having learned what he must have seen having gone through the entire war (except for 6 months when he was Invalided home for Wounds recieved at Gaines Mill) and surrendering in Longstreets' Corp with Gen'l Lee at Appomattox, I realize now that this silence about his experiences was a form of protection which he built around himself. And is not unusal in men who have seen "the Elephant" to closely.

It make me admire the strenght of those men in a time when nothing was known about combat stress and PTSD.